Special Intervention Programs

Language Arts Intervention Program (LEAP)

The Language Arts Intervention Program is for students in grades 1st through 5th who are struggling in the areas of reading fluency, reading comprehension, spelling and writing. Research based English Language Arts programs are used in a small group setting to build upon these essential skills. The program is coordinated by the Intervention paraprofessionals Kim Calvert and Jolyn Denevi, under supervision of the Resource teacher, Susan Dhillon.

Barton Reading Program

The Barton Reading Program is a one-on-one tutoring program for struggling readers from the 1st to 5th grade. It is an Orton- Gillingham based program that targets specific reading skills using a multi-sensory approach. The tutors are trained in phonemic awareness, phonemic/graphic correspondence and use a variety of multi-sensory techniques to help students struggling in reading fluency, spelling and writing. The Barton Program is run by trained parent volunteers under the direct supervision of our Barton Coordinator, Suzanne Lyons.

Rainbow Room

What is the Rainbow Room?

The Rainbow Room is a very special place here at school. It’s a room dedicated to children who might need a little extra something from school and is available to children who might need us. We become a friend at school to those students referred to Rainbow.

Studies have revealed that a child’s connection with school in the primary grades is highly predictive of school performance in later years. Research has shown that we can often predict high school success based on performance in kindergarten and first grade. Did you know that many adults attribute their success in life to the connection with a special adult from their childhood? Also, children use play as a means of learning and processing new information and expressing their feelings.

We try to combine all the above concepts and improve the bond between the school and children in Kindergarten through fifth grades. In the Rainbow Program, students spend 30-45 minutes each week in the room for about 12 weeks. During this time they receive individual attention in the Rainbow playroom. Kids love it! They feel important and typically become more connected with school and the adults they see here each day.

In addition to the individual time spent with students, we also offer programs called Second Step and Steps to Respect. The first small group setting focuses on skills for learning, empathy training, impulse control and problem solving. The latter program is a bully prevention curriculum teaching skills for assertiveness, joining a group, and friendship, as well as recognizing, refusing and reporting bullying. In both programs students are taught how to identify and predict feelings of others and how to provide an appropriate emotional response. Students learn skills in effective communication and learn techniques to reduce stress and redirect angry or other strong feelings. A new program has recently been added based on skills for building and maintaining friendships called PALS. We also adapt PALS to use in groups for new students to the school.

We hope to touch the lives of all the students here at Bollinger, whether it is through the Rainbow Program, on the playground at recess time, reading/ book discussion in the classroom, helping in the Kindergarten classrooms or simply saying hello anywhere on the campus. We strongly believe in our program and strive to make it the best and brightest place on campus.